The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-09-13

kept up u constant lamentutioii, anu was
continually beseeching me not to let tho
Indians do him harm. Drink had lost its
effect ON him, and to come out OF his
spell aud find himself in the hands OF the
relentless redskins had taken all the pluck
out Of him. He was doing the very
worst thing he could have done, for l
heard the Indians gloating over the pros
pect when he should come to the stake.
There was considerable hurrah when we
rode into the village, and had l not been
able TO understand word of the dialect,
the looks and actions of the Indians
would have been sufficient to tell mo
what fate they intended 70 mete out "
us. Sewell was placed in one lodge and
! in another, and the war party were
soon engaged with breakfast. ltwas not
yet fully daylight when l was pulled of
the horse, and therefore i had not yet
been recognized. was pretty generally
known to all the tribes, and they had
named me 1.-The Long Death" ! got
the name by killing some of them with q
rife, which knocked them over wher
they supposed themselves far beyond
range. My only hope was that no one in
the crowd would be able to identify me.
as had lately had my hair cut close and
my whiskers entirely removed, but day
light had only come when three warriors
looked in on me, gave II start of surprise,
and one of them called at the top his
voice.
1T is the Long Death! We have got
him at last. Here is the white hunter
who has killed so many Of our people. y
The cat was out of the bag, as the old
saving goes, and / stood there and faced
them and knew that | was doomed to
the most horrible tortures they could in
vent.
They did not keep me long in waiting.
The knowledge of my identity whetted
their savage appetites, and while inc
warriors who captured us were eating
breakfast the rest of the village was astir
with preparations. The camp was in Il
bit of valley on the left bank of Smoky
Hill Fork, and two young trees were cut
down. trimmed to proper length, and
then driven into the ground in the center
of the village. The one intended for me
|
and stood at the entrance and saw the
the young man drive it into the earth
More than that, sung out to them in
steady voice, in their own dialect:
"a stake like that to hold the Long
Death! You shall see how he will tear II
up''
NV words were received with shouts OF
satisfaction. No people on earth respect
courage in man as much as the Indians
They are no less cruel to game man,
but his gameness will shorten his torture.
Feeling that my time had come, and
hoping to provoke some of them to SHOOT
or tomahawk me- called out the names
of half dozen of the tribe whom l hac
sent to the happy hunting grounds. Some
of the young men fairly raved to get al
me. but tho order of the chief was to wait
boosted that could outshoot, outrldt
and outrun their best men, and Offered
to fight any six of them, if they woulc
turn me loose, but all this talk only gave
them the more satisfaction in thinking Of
the torture in store for me. On the SAINT
principle that people cat their pie last
the Indians led Sewell out first. His con
dition was such that but little fun coulc
be anticipated from his torture. He was
large, fine looking man, but the result
of his spree and of his capture was tt
break him down. He had no more courage
than child, and il was pitiful to see hin
weap and hear his lamentations. l beg
ged of the Indians to let him go, stating
that he was a civilian who had never in
iured them, and was so broken dowr
that he could not live long, and but fol-
the hotheaded young men in the tribe
should have got him off. They urget
that he was assisting to build the railroad
which was driving the game and thu
Indian out of the country, and that thu
white men never spared a warrior because
he was i'll. Such talk as this settled it
and the engineer was led out, stripped o
his clothing, and tied securely to the stake
Had | refused to look on it would hav'
been taken us an act of cowardicc on my
part. Realizing this, | stepped outside
the lodge and stood within ten feet OF tn
stake. Sewell wept and begged while
being made fast, but when they stepped
back he suddenly grew calm and asket
of me:
Taylor, what does this all mean2 Wha
are they going to do with me?'
"They are going to torture you, MIR
Sewell."
"Are you prisoner, toof"
"Yes, and they will torture me afte
finishing you.
MY God! but this is awful. hav'
J $500 at the camp. Won't they take tina
and release us?"
Ireplied that if we were worth a million
dollars apiece we could not purchase on
} liberty under the circumstances, and ad
vised him to call up all his courage an'